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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Wildlife crossings exist in many other countries as well. The first of these crossings were constructed in France during the 1950s. Studies have shown that these structures--bridges and tunnels-- greatly reduce the conflicts between wildlife and roads. LINKS:1. ecoducts in the Netherlands, photos 2. ARC Wildlife Crossing Competition 2011 design winner HNTB + Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates, designed for West Vail Pass on I-70 in Colorado--scroll down to see the bridge"The primary goals of the competition were to re-imagine how we create
structures to ensure the safe mobility of humans and wildlife by
allowing them to coexist, and to inspire the next generation of wildlife
crossing structures."3. Nutty Narrows a squirrel bridge! constucted across Olympia Way in Longview, Washington in 1963. Check out these photos! (Thanks for telling me about this, Cynthia!)

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Blogging Business Artisans team Challenge for the month of May was created by Sharla of Beaded Tail.April showers brought May flowers so let's see them!
Create something with flowers and let your imagination bloom! Ahhhh....the loveliness of Spring! Flowers are blooming profusely at present. I've enjoyed taking spins around my yard photographing them, especially looking at color combinations. Some are very subtle like this one of soapwort, a tiny 5-petaled flower, displaying

tones of pink with anthers of lavender. delicate and feminine.

There are bright and wonderful shades of yellow and gold in this coreopsis.

I love the delicate lavenders of this alliumagainst the bright green foliage.

What a gorgeous pansy of blues, lavender, and golds!

I was inspired by the pink and yellow combination of

the Missouri Primrose and

the pink Knockout Rose blossoms.I thought it would be fun to dye a silk scrunchie in these colors.

First I dyed the scrunchie a very pale yellow.

After processing, I then painted pink flowers with deep yellow centers. Little dots of light pink, dark pink, and deep yellow were then added.

My Blogging Business Artisans
team sets forth a new Challenge every month. The purpose is to encourage
us to explore our creativity, to stretch our imaginations. Perhaps we
are re-working something we've done in the past or still do. Perhaps
we're making something entirely new. It's always fun to see how others interpret the Challenge!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Located in the Canadian Rockies, Athabasca Glacier is one of six principal "toes" of the Columbia Icefield.

In the above photo, Athabaca Glacier is the tongue of ice in the valley between the mountains.

The cool thing about this glacier is that you can almost drive up to it.

This photo was taken through the front window of our car--see the wipers? There's a small wooden building to the left of the parking lot. You'll see that building again.

See that gorgeous aqua glacial lake on the right? Here's another view.

We park. We've already donned multiple layers of clothing. We add jackets. I get out my gloves and headband. It's already cold and it will be much colder up close to the glacier.

We start up the path.

There is an "other worldliness" to this landscape.

looking back. See the building? It looks so tiny already. The trail is a little over a half mile in one direction, going uphill gently and steadily with short, steeper
sections. The trail begins at 6500 feet (2000 meters) elevation with a gain of 165 feet (50 meters).not impossible. The windy coldness increases as we approach the glacier.

informational signs

We have arrived at the toe of the glacier. There is glacial melt--a small waterway--in the foreground. See the tiny people?

A plank has been laid to enable the fearless (foolhardy) to cross over to the glacier.

STOP

not a public

access

DANGERS BEYOND THIS POINT:

crevasses and millwells (DEEP HOLES, SOMETIMES HIDDEN)

Changeable ice conditions

Swift flowing creeks with slippery banks

PARTIES PROCEEDING BEYOND

THIS POINT MUST HAVE:

Mountaineering and rescue equipment

The knowledge of how to use it

You may have noticed those people on the glacier. Yep, a few folks wandered onto the glacier in spite of signs like this and one detailing the fall of a young boy into a crevasse a couple years before. (It's easy to take a SnowCoach trip onto the glacier with a guide--see LINKS below.)

Glaciers form because more snow falls in a year than can melt during the short summer
season. Over time the accumulated snow transforms into ice and
begins to flow outward through gaps in the mountains. This creates great tongues of ice called glaciers. The Columbia Icefield receives about 33 feet (10 meters) of snow annually, falling every month of the year. In places the ice is 2,952 feet (900 metres) thick.

Glacial ice is in continuous motion, creeping forward at the rate of an inch or so per day, flowing down the valley like a frozen,
slow-moving river. The Athabasca Glacier
has been receding/melting for about 125 years because of a warming climate. The extent of its retreat during that time frame has been about a mile. Signs mark the years when the glacier reached farther. The shrinking glacier has left an other worldly landscape of rocky moraines in its wake.

The Columbia Icefield at 126 sq miles (9325 sq km) is
the largest icefield in the interior of North America. It feeds six glaciers, of which Athabasca is one. However, this glacier
makes up only 2% of the total mass of the Columbia Icefield.

Through the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, fresh water flows into three oceans--east to the Atlantic, west to the Pacific, and north to the Arctic. This forms a triple continental divide. Since Snow Dome is the highest peak in the Icefield, it is the hydrographic apex* of North America which means that this is the center of water distribution to the continent.

Meltwater from the Athabasca Glacier feeds into the Athabasca River which then flows into Lake Athabasca in northeastern Alberta.

LINKS:Parks Canada Columbia Icefield Area and Athabasca Glaciersatellite viewof the Columbia IcefieldBanff and Beyondphotos and information, including SnowCoach tripsClimb Wild great information on the Columbia Icefield with photos

my post--peaceful Athabasca River in Jasper National Park *One other apex exists on the continent of North America--Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA.

The end of yet another odyssey with Alphabe-Thursday has been reached! What a challenge it had been at times
to come up with a creative post for the current letter of the
alphabet! I've enjoyed this journey with you, my readers and fellow
Alphabe-Thursdayers, sharing our posts and lives. Thanks, Jenny!
(You can click on any of the following links to go to that post.)

Dear Ms.Jenny, I LOVE Alphabe-Thursday! Thank you so much for hostessing this awesome meme AND visiting EVERY single post!

It is often challenging to come up with a post for each letter as well as committing to posting for every letter. But it is so much FUN!So begins Round 7 in which we start with the Letter "A." Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! (You do not have to post for every letter.)

About Me

Margaret, an artsy girl, living in the suburbs of a big city with acres of woods behind my house..... loves nature, photography, cooking (sometimes), gardening, hiking, bicycling, exploring new places, friends, laughter, and making artsy-crafty things.

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